No. 1: Easton Cowan
Cowan is an unbelievable junior hockey player and is someone that Leafs fans would dream to play alongside Auston Matthews. However, would you rather see a fun regular season version of Cowan and Matthews, or a better equiped team for the playoffs this year?
That's the one-million dollar question that the Leafs are facing right now and the team should trade him if the right player is out there to make a difference. With the No. 28 overall pick in the 2023 NHL Entry Draft, it's possible that Cowan turns into the steal of the draft, but we can't think of the future right now.
We need to worry about the potential last year of John Tavares and Mitch Marner and how the team can maximize their chances at winning. Cowan is hands-down the team's number-one prospect, so if they traded him, it would probably mean that someone of Noah Dobson's skillset is coming back to Toronto, so no Leafs fan should be upset with that.
In a perfect world, you're able to keep all of your best prospects, draft picks and still win, but unfortunately that's not how it works. Sometimes you have to ship away the OHL's top forward and this is the time do it.
No. 2: Max Domi
Domi scored his first goal in almost 30 games on Sunday afternoon, in a 6-5 overtime victory against the Pittsburgh Penguins. It was a wide-open net and he litterally didn't do anything to contribute to the goal, except smack it in from two-feet.
It's one of those goals that you hope will spark him for the next 20 games and for a playoff-run, but I can't take that risk. I know Domi is a player who is viewed more as a "playoff-player" and can elevate his game, but I'm not sure if I'm comfortable with him being on this team anymore.
Domi is just not contributing enough to keep him around, as he only has four goals and 24 points on the season and, his $3.75M AAV contract can be a big asset in trade conversations. Since the Leafs are already up against the salary-cap, Domi's contract can be a great way to acquire better talent. Even if the Leafs have to give away a first-round pick to get rid of Domi's contract, I'd say it is worth it, if you're obviously getting a good player in return.
Based on his last name and a few previous seasons where he looked like a No. 12 overall draft pick, there will be team's who will happily acquire him, so I don't think trading Domi will be hard as it seems. The Leafs can't play him at centre and they don't seem too keen at playing him alongside Matthews, where he found previous success, so it's time to move on from him.